Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus is our Virtues Programme and it underpins all that we say, feel and do at NBC.

Why: We are a Catholic School.

NBC developed this programme to explicitly teach the virtues inherent in our Catholic faith and we have made it an integral part of our school life, in effect the essence of what our school is about.

Who: The programme is designed for the entire school community. All aspects of the school’s life are influenced by the way we act towards each other, hence the basis is on relationships.

When: Always! Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus has had a huge impact on the culture of our school. We are able to visually see, act and talk about our virtues thus fulfilling the purpose of our Catholic School. We begin each week with a Virtues Assembly in our beautiful church, and we welcome you to join us. It is an integral part of setting us up for our week.

Acknowledgement System

As a school, we have identified the Virtues that are most important to us. They sit under the headings of

• Be Kind

• Show Respect

• Have Gratitude

• Seek Excellence

Underneath each of these virtues sits a number of other virtues which we also explicitly teach. (See overleaf)

When we see a child ‘Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus’ by showing one of these virtues, we give them a footstep, in the form of a token. They then put the token into their ‘House’ box.

You will hear a staff member use language relating to the virtue displayed. For example, “Thank you for showing the virtue of respect when you used your manners”.

Once a house or whole school receive a predetermined number they will receive a House or Whole School Reward.

Houses:

At NBC we have 4 Houses. When your child starts at school they will be allocated into a House.

The houses represent aspects of our Catholic faith and charism that are important to us.

They are

Aquinas: Saint Thomas Aquinas

is the Patron Saint of Learning

Chanel: Saint Peter Chanel

was one of the first Missionaries that came to NZ. He was the first Martyr in Oceania.

Euphrasie : Sister Euphrasie Barbier

Founder of The Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions Order. They started our school in 1935.

Pompallier: Bishop Pompallier.

The first Bishop of Aotearoa.

The school has procedures for supporting behaviour with guidelines identified and taught around what is expected and what the process is when children may exhibit an inappropriate behaviour

They are identified as minor, major and severe behaviours. Please see below for guideline links. These are currently in draft form.

Footsteps – Minor Behaviours

Footsteps – Major Behaviours

Footsteps – Severe Behaviours